Process of soldering single links of solid wire chains.



F. MAISENBAGHER dz T. BfiRGK. PROCESS OF" SOLDBRING SINGLE LINKS 0FSOLID WIRE CHAINS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 19, 1911. 1,027,869. Patented May 28, 1912.

PROCESS OF SOLDERING SINGLE LINKS OF SOLID WIRE CHAINS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28,1912.

Application filed October 19, 1911. Serial No. 655,553.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRITZ Mnrsnnnaorinn and Trrnonon Bt'mon, subjectsof the GermanEmperor, and residents of Pforzheim, Germany, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Processes of S01- dering SingleLinks of Solid Vire Chains, of which the following is a specification.

For soldering wire chains, generally solder-wire is employed, fromwhich, when heated after the single links are hung into each other,escapes the solder required for soldering the joint. The chain contains,however, in this case more solder than necessary, which makes thesolder-wire expensive, and that the more, the thicker and thus thelonger are the single links. Attempts to substitute for the solder-wiresolid wire and to introduce small pieces of solder into the joint wereuseless owing to the slowness and nonuniformity of this work, whichcould only be done by hand, so that the product obtained could notcompete with the manufacture of solderwire chains. And the mechanicalmanufacture of solid wire-chains was hitherto not possible owing to thedifficulty of fixing the solder in the joint of the chain link so as toprevent it from falling out before soldering was effected, which easilyoccurred especially with thin chains.

The present invention, which is hereinafter described and shown by wayof example on the accompanying drawing, overcomes this drawback in thatthe ends of the chain link to be soldered are not cut off transverselyto the length of same, but by a correspondingly designed punch areshaped concavely or otherwise, in such a way that, when bending thewire, to form the chain link, the solder piece, which is introduced fromabove, is inclosed by and clamped between the wire ends.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side view of the cutting-offdevice for the wire, Fig. 2 a side view of the tongs for forming thewire, with the solder inserted between the wire ends, Fig. 3 a side viewof the cuttingbfi device for the solder, Fig. & shows a straight pieceof wire with the concavely shaped cut ends, and Fig. 5 a side view ofthe closed chain link with the cutoff solder clamped between the endsthereof.

The wire 0 on a grooved bed a is in the known way advanced byreciprocating clamping jaws toward the tongs (Z, when the latter assumetheir deepest position. The

punch I) above the bed a is 011 its end so shaped, that upon itsdescent, it imparts to the wire ends an uneven shape, for instance thatshown in Fig. 4. The pin f holds meanwhile by slight pressure the wirepieces on the grippers of the tongs. After cutting, the tongs ascend andare at the same time closed byupward movement of the shell 9, whichpresses against the outer tong members, whereby the chain link is formedaround the pin The joining member it has meanwhile been lowered upon thewire ends, a small distance apart therefrom. By the central boringprovided in said member, a thread of solder 2', which fits the joint ofthe link, is downwardly advanced to the central lower edges of thejoint,which already touch each other,-but without passing the edges. Atthe same time, when the solder is advanced into the joint, the latter isclosed, whereby the solder is surrounded on three sides by the metal ofthe ends of the link, which after some pressure, exerted by the tongsand the joining member, clamp the end of the solder. Then the piece ofthe thread of solder, inclosed in the joint, is cut off by the cutter kjust above the joint. After cutting, the member h with advanced cutteris exerts a final pressure on the thread of solder, whereby the latteris pressed down into the joint, while at the same time theupperwire-edges are somewhat bent together above the same. Thesolder is'thusinclosed in the joint on those three sides, which touch the followinglink, while on the fourth side it is pressed between the upper edges, sothat it cannot fall out. The tongs move then downward together with thechain. The latter is further formed in the known way by turning,opening, and so on, of the tongs, and the links provided with solder aresoldered directly beneath the shell 9 after corresponding treatment.Laterally from the punch 79 a pipe Z is arranged, which from a higherlocated vessel is fed with a solder fluXing agent. In the orifice ofsaid pipe, a piece of felt or other absorbing material is provided,whereby a slow escape of said agent is secured, which, since said feltpiece is in contact with the punch b, fiows down along the same. A cockmay be provided in the pipe Z, to regulate the supply of material. Whencutting the wire by the punch 79, the latter transmits the agent to bothsides of the cut wire, so that the later introduced solder is touchedfrom both sides by the same. The cutter 7: and the guide thereof arepreferably so connected with the member it, that both move together upand down. After return of cutter 7c, the thread of solder 2' is againadvanced and the process is repeated as above described, and so on.

The cut-off or punched wire-ends can, of course, receive any othershape. For i11- stance, one end may be concave and the other convex, sothat, when forming the wire, both ends pass into each other so as toinclose and clamp a correspondingly shaped thread of solder betweenthem. In any case, the shape of the wire ends must be always such as toprevent the solder inserted between them from falling out during themanufacturing process and when undergoing the soldering process toprevent the solder from overflowing on the touching metal of the nextlink, so that each single link is soldered for itself.

6 claim:

In a process of soldering single links of solid wire chains, cutting thetwo ends of the chain links, which form between them the joint to besoldered, in an uneven way, moistening both ends-ivhile being cutwith asolder fluxing agent, inserting a'centrally guided and correspondinglyshaped thread of solder between said ends Which are closed at theirdeepest' edges and on both sides, then cutting the same off directlyabove the joint, pressing the cut solder into the joint, so that it isprevented from falling out, joining said wire ends in such a way thatthey inclose the piece of solder on three sides touching the followinglink, and finally heating the joint, thus preventing adjacent links frombeing soldered to each other, substantially as and for the pur JOSE setforth. In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

F. MAISENBACHER.

TH. BUR-CK.

Witnesses JOSEPH PFEIFFER, S. H. SHANK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

